PEN eNews 9(4) November 2019

School Nutrition - Are you up on the latest evidence?

The PEN School Nutrition Knowledge Pathway has just been updated! Click here to see information on:

• Key elements  and barriers in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating school nutrition policies and interventions
• Promising practices for the development of nutrition-related policy language
• School readiness and school climate for nutrition interventions
• Evidence that the implementation of school nutrition policies and interventions improves the nutritional intake of school aged-children
• School nutrition interventions and the impact on academic performance
• The impact of school nutrition policies/guidelines on the prevalence of overweight/obesity among children and youth
• The use of behavioural changes and BMI to evaluate school nutrition interventions.

PEN Content Reviewers Needed

We are currently looking for reviewers for these topics:
Gerontology                                                                      November 1, 2019
Low Carbohydrate (not Ketogenic) and Diabetes     November 1, 2019
Intestinal Permeability                                                   November 1, 2019
Dementia                                                                          November 15, 2019

There are currently more than 300 PEN Reviewers. We would love for you to join this group and share your expertise and energy. For more information, contact http://www.pennutrition.com/BecomeAuthor.aspx.

PEN Summary of Recommendations and Evidence:
Where Evidence and Practice Guidance Meet

Short on time, but need a quick and comprehensive overview of the evidence on a topic area? The Summary of Recommendations and Evidence (SRE) is your new favourite tool. The SRE organizes all of the questions in a knowledge pathway by topic. It is your one-stop shop to find the key practice points (including recommendations and graded evidence) for the topics covered in the knowledge pathway. The SRE replaces the Evidence Summary, which was a synthesis of just the evidence part of the key practice points, organized by evidence grade level. The SRE is a stand-alone tool and is mirrored in the Practice Guidance Toolkit, replacing the Key Findings and Recommendations section.  

There are now 203 Knowledge Pathways in the PEN System, which means that we have many SREs to create! So far, we have created more than 80! The remainder of SREs will be in the former Evidence Summary format until content in those KPs are updated or new content is added.

Here are some examples of the new Summary of Recommendations and Evidence:

• Osteoarthritis Summary of Recommendations and Evidence  
• Food Safety - Agriculture and Fisheries Summary of Recommendations and Evidence  
• Toddler and Preschool Nutrition Summary of Recommendations and Evidence  
• Gastrointestinal System - Probiotics Summary of Recommendations and Evidence
• Women's Health - Lactation Summary of Recommendations and Evidence
• Toddler and Preschool Nutrition Summary of Recommendations and Evidence
• Pregnancy Summary of Recommendations and Evidence

Mercury in Fish – Is it Safe?

The regular consumption of fish can be part of an overall healthy diet, but what about the mercury? See these updated practice questions to find out:

• Are there safety concerns for the ingestion of fish in women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or breastfeeding related to mercury contamination
• Are there safety concerns for feeding fish to infants and young children related to mercury contamination?
• Are there safety concerns for the ingestion of fish in older children and adults related to mercury contamination?
• What is the safe level of mercury that one can consume?

• Cardiovascular Disease
• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Eating Together
• Food Allergies - High Risk Infant
• Healthy Weight/Obesity - Pediatrics/Paediatrics.

What is the Latest with Lupus and Vitamin Supplements?

thank you to our PEN^® volunteers

why i use PEN^® content alerts

Does your clinical practice always reflect best practice and evidence? If you said no, you are not alone. Many healthcare professionals do not provide care that is recommended or that is based on the latest research (1). Information overload, inaccessibility (1) and lack of awareness of new information (2) are just some of the reasons for this evidence-to-practice gap.

A Cochrane review evaluated the effects of automatic reminders for healthcare professionals on both processes of care (related to the healthcare practitioner’s practice) and outcomes of care (related to the health care condition) and found that reminders improved professional practices by 7% (1). They concluded that reminder interventions can improve care in many settings under different conditions.

This study made me think about the monthly dietetic practice reminders I receive. On the last day of each month, I receive an email alerting me to new and updated content in the PEN^® System. Called PEN^® Content Alerts, this Alert is customized to information that is most relevant to my areas of practice. For example, this past month, I was alerted to this resource: Learn How to Eat Mindfully with the ‘Eat—Mojis’. Without the Alert, I would not have been aware of this new (and on-trend) nutrition resource.

In previous alerts, I learned about the Microbiota Background, the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Background and more! Whether it is a handout, a resource, a practice question, a general backgrounder or a Trending Topic, these Alerts have served as practice inspiration to maintain and enhance my nutrition knowledge in this ever-evolving field of nutrition.

If you haven’t already done so, sign up for PEN Content Alerts (instructions are here), a feature available to those with individual PEN^® System access. Once you receive your alert, grab a cup of tea, your computer or tablet, and continue to close the evidence to practice gap in your practice.

References:

1. Cochrane. The effect of automatically generated reminders delivered to providers on paper on professional practice. This version published: 2012; Review content assessed as up-to-date: July 18, 2012. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0050327/ 
2. Bauer J. Closing the Evidence to Practice Gap. PEN eNews 4(2). August 2014. [accessed Oct. 26 2016]. https://www.pennutrition.com/enews.aspx?id=29#276 

Written by:
Kristyn Hall MSc, RD